Alright. Let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 24. I'd like to look at verses 15
and 16. Proverbs 24. I looked at the
first service out of Psalm 36. Dealing with a believer that
sees his own guilt. as he is still plagued with the
old man, but the mercy of God to guilty sinners. That was out
of Psalm 36. Now, this morning I'd like to
look at Proverbs 24, verses 15 and 16, but before I do, you
can go ahead and mark your place there in Proverbs. Lord willing,
we'll come back to it in just a second. But I'd like to look
first of all in Psalm chapter 10. Psalm chapter 10. The Spirit of God moved upon the
psalmist in Psalm chapter 10 to pin something of the words
of the need. of a believer. The pleading and
the intercession in the midst of adversity. Words that are
truly uttered by everyone that God's been pleased to call out
of darkness, not only for himself, but praying for others. But if these words that truly
are the words of a believer, if they
be considered a right. These words are actually from
the heart of the great high priest himself. Words spoken by the
mediator on behalf of his sheep. And when we consider that he
is the speaker, these words become exceptionally precious. So let's
listen. Like I said, I know that a believer
can utter these words. Let's think of them as he utters
them. Look at verse 1, Psalm 10. Why
standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times
of trouble? Now, this verse right there is
spoken from Him who hung upon the cross as the Lamb of God
hanging, suffering, dying in the stead of God's elect. Now
He suffered the indescribable wrath, justice, judgment, Almighty
God being made sin for His people, for His bride, that they might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. So He experienced
being forsaken of the Father that we might never be forsaken. And the Lord Himself cried, we
know this, my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And if
you continue to look at that passage of Scripture, here's
the reason. He said, for Thou art holy. So
having been made in the likeness of sinful flesh, having been
touched with the feelings of our infirmities, the scripture
says he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.
That word learned, there it means he experienced them. He experienced, he knew practically
and experientially the suffering as our federal head and therefore
he knew the wise and divine drawings of his father from his sheep
because the father forsook him. So he knew what that felt like.
He knew what it felt like because he experienced it. And it's comforting
for us now because we know that our great high priest, our federal
head and savior, he was exercised perfectly. And he therefore knows
perfectly our frailty. And he enters into that temptation.
Listen to this in Isaiah 63, 9. In all their affliction, his
people, in all their affliction, he was afflicted. The angel of
his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity,
he redeemed them. He bared them. He carried them
all the days of old. So, the Lord knows. I mean, it's easy for us to forget
that while we're going through these trials and tribulations
and we feel the pain and suffering, and we don't know what the Lord
is doing. He knew exactly what the Lord
was doing. He knew exactly why He was forsaken,
but He felt it. He knew the pain of being forsaken. But now, in our being forsaken,
I'm sorry, in our being in trial and tested, not forsaken, He
never forsakes us. But when we're feeling that period
of supposed separation, when we don't know why the Lord is
pleased to hide His will from us, and we're suffering, the
Lord knows that feeling. When Saul of Tarsus was spiritually
arrested on the road to Damascus, the Lord, who mysteriously is
associated with his sheep in their trials, he asked Saul this.
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? So he knew. He knows. Why standest thou afar off, O
Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times
of trouble? And then listen to what he says.
Verse 2 and 3, the wicked in his pride doth persecute the
poor. Let them be taken in the devices
that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his
heart's desire and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhors. Now here is the open, honest
confession of the Savior of his people against the ungodly. He knows. The Lord who knows
the sufferings of His people and He voices that perfect knowledge
in His holiness before the Father concerning that which God in
the garden proclaimed would come. Now here's what God said to Adam
and Eve. He said this to the serpent and
He's saying it in Adam and Eve's presence. God told the serpent
Genesis I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thy
shall bruise his heel. Now, there is enmity between
God's people and those who are the wicked. Therefore, God told
His disciples, He said, John 15, 18, 19, if the world hates
you, why does the world hate God's people? Now, the reason
is, and the Lord is going to say this, is because they hate
God. Somebody says, I just don't understand
why you say that people hate God. We say that the world hates
God because God said the world hates Him. They hate Him. They despise Him. They despise
His sovereignty. They despise His truth. They
despise His people. They despise His Christ. Listen
to what the Lord says. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own, but because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. The Lord just said that the world
hates God's people because it hates God because God is sovereign. and chooses to show mercy to
whomsoever he will. And the world says, I hate that. I want to be the one in charge. I want to have a free will. I want to make a choice. And
if you try to deprive me of that, I hate you. John said in 1 John
3.13, marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. Here's
the Lord and He's actually confessing what God said in the garden would
be. There's going to be enmity, there's
going to be strife, division between the seed of the woman
and the seed of the devil. The wicked in his pride doth
persecute the poor, the poor in spirit. Let them be taken
in the devices that they've imagined, for the wicked boasteth of his
heart's desire. He desires to be God. That's
what Satan said, I will ascend. I will be like the most high.
The Lord told those Pharisees, you are of your father the devil.
The way he thinks, you think. They boasted of his heart's desire
and they blessed the covetous. They bless them, those that covet
God's honor, whom the Lord abhoreth. And listen to what he says in
verses 4 to 11. The wicked, through the pride
of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in
his thoughts. His ways are always grievous. Thy judgments are far above out
of his sight. His judgments. What do you mean?
God's acts. His verdicts. What God says is so. His ways
are always grievous, and thy judgments, Lord, the things that
you do, are far above out of His sight. As for all His enemies,
He puffeth at them. Who are all of His enemies? God's
people. He puffeth at them. He has said in His heart, I shall
not be moved, for I shall never be In adversity his mouth is
full of cursing, deceit, fraud. Under his tongue is mischief
and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places
of the villages. In the secret place doth he murder
the innocent. His eyes are privily set against
the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as
a lion in his den. He lieth in wait to catch the
poor. He doth catch the poor when he
draweth him into his net. He croucheth and humbleth himself
that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He has said in his
heart, God hath forgotten. He hideth his face. He will never
see it. Now here the Spirit of God declares
that man, being born in Adam, doesn't seek God. Now who knows
that but God? Who could say that? But the Lord. Who could speak of the nature
of man as he's born in Adam? But God. I don't know in myself. I don't know the nature of a
man except what God teaches. Except what the Lord reveals.
And the Scripture sets forth that he won't seek God, he won't
even think of God with fear and respect. He hates the blessing
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He despises God's righteous law. He despises when God tells him
that by the works of the law shall no man be justified. And
man by nature says, I can't. I can do that. I just remember
that young man that came to the Lord and said, good master, what
must I do to inherit, you know, eternal life? He said, what does
scripture say? And he names off, Thou shalt
not, Thou shalt not, Thou shalt not, Thou shalt not. What did
he say, Mark? He said, I've kept all those from my youth up. Man
believes by nature that he can. And God said, no, you can't.
You cannot. He despises the righteousness
of God's Lord. He despises God's precious mercy
to sinners. despises God's judgment against
sin, salvation by the grace of God. Man by nature's very desire,
because of his hatred of God, which the Lord said, they hated
me before they hated you, but the desire of those that know
not the Lord is the murder of the innocent. That's what He
said. They murder the poor, they murder the innocent. What do
you mean they murder them? They hate them. The Lord said
if you hate one in your heart, you murdered him. You killed
him. Murder is against the one that
God has been pleased to show mercy because they hate the merciful
God. They hate those who have been
redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pat, you just
read it in John chapter 10. They told the Lord, they said,
be plain with us. He said, I told you. I told you. But you believe not because you're
not my sheep. Now the Lord had said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
And when He told them, He said, I told you the truth but you
don't believe me because you're not of my sheep. You know what
He said? I didn't die for you. And they'd hate Him. What do
you mean? That's not right. God is righteous. He does that which is right.
And the world hates salvation by the grace of God. They hate
God's sovereignty. That's man, that's all of us
by nature. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. And the wicked watch, the Scripture
says, with supposed stealth. And God knows. They watch the
poor, the poor in spirit, and they lie in wait like a lion,
waiting to catch them and harm them. How? By refuting what they
believe. By denying what the scripture
teaches. And then they say in their heart,
God's forgotten. He don't know. He don't know
what I think. seeing me, He's never going to
behold my deed. And the scripture sets forth
that every thought, every evil intent and scheme against God
is recorded and all going to be brought up one day. They're going to open the books
and in that day of judgment, the very thoughts, every idle
thought, Oh my, I've read that scripture before and that scared
me to death until I realized that the Lord has put away the
guilt of that in His blood. Did I do it? Yes, I do it. Do
I do it now? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. There's
an old man. There's an old man. Hold your
place right here. I'm not gonna go back and preach that first
message I preached. But just turn over, hold your place right
there in Psalm 10. And look in Psalm 36, 36. Psalm 36, this is where I started
in the first message. Psalm 36 verse 1, David writing,
here's what he's writing. He's writing of himself. He says,
the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there
is no fear of God before his eyes. And you know, we very easily,
we can talk about those evil people. I'm talking about those
that don't believe like we do. You know, the wicked. You know,
because they, you know how they are. Because they don't, you
know, I wish they'd be like us. David said, hey, the transgression
of the wicked in my old man, this is what my old man says.
There's no fear of God before their eyes. God's people have
been made honest. They've been made honest. And
the scripture declares that when those that know not our God They
lie and wait to do harm to the poor in spirit. And they think
that God's not seeing. They think it's not going to
be brought up. You listen to what I'm saying. It's going to
be brought up. And if it's not under the blood,
if Christ is not standing for me, if Christ does not answer
for me, if His sacrifice doesn't answer, if His righteousness
doesn't robe me, I'm telling you, it's going to come up and
witness against me, and I have no hope. Now, knowing what the
Scripture says concerning the truth of the hatred and resentment,
now turn over to Proverbs chapter 24. Knowing what the Scripture
has said, how the wicked lie in wait against the just. Proverbs 24 verse 15. Lie not wait, or lay not wait,
I'm sorry. Lay not wait, O wicked man, against
the dwelling of the righteous. Spoil not his resting place,
for a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again, but
the wicked shall fall into mischief. Lay not wait. Verse 50. Don't attempt to ambush. is what they say, oh wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous. That word dwelling of the righteous,
which means it's from a root word that means the prepared
habitation. Don't attempt to ambush the prepared
habitation of God's people, the righteous, and spoil not his
resting place. Now here we talk that the wicked
are not excluded from being instructed by the Lord. This is a book right
here to God's people. But we learn here that God speaks
a warning to those that know Him not, those that God has been
pleased to leave to themselves. Let them do what they want to
do. Solomon was directed to give some warning, some instruction
to those that desire to disrupt the peace of God's people. God's sheep, those regenerated
by the power and grace of God, they have a dwelling and a resting
place. Now where is it? You know this. It's in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Psalm 90 verse 1 says, O Lord,
thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. They by faith know that God has
been pleased to eternally hide them in the cleft of the rock
himself. They were chosen in him before
the foundation of the world that they should be holy and without
blame before him in love. So Christ has always been their
hiding place, their habitation, their refuge. Psalm 32, 7 says,
Thou art my hiding place, Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.
Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. So being
hidden in Christ, what can possibly happen to us to disrupt or disturb
our eternal hope? I know we're going through some
trials and tribulations, right now, but being found in Christ,
if God be for us who can be against us. And then concerning our place
of rest, now look at what it says. Lay not weight, O wicked
man, against the dwelling of the righteous. Spoil not his
resting place. Obviously there is something
different there. One is a dwelling and one is
a resting place. What is it? Well, if I err not,
Christ has eternally been our dwelling place in the eternal
covenant of God's grace. Now, if the Lord has eternally
loved us in Christ, chose to send Him before the foundation
of the world, before there was anything. Before anything. When there was God, God had a
people. God had a Son. According to this
covenant of His grace, Son who was ever before Him, before the
world was formed, before the mountains were... I was ever
before Him, I was ever His delight. He's always been the Son. In
time, He was made flesh, but He's always been the Son. He's
always been the, you know, I've loved you. I've eternally betrothed
to Him. Before they were ever formed,
they were always there. They were always in Him. They
were always there. God saved them and then called
them in time. But when was the saving? Eternal. Eternal. Eternal. Justified by
His grace. God who never changes, never
changes. I've told people this. If God
looks upon the elect now as justified, when did He not? If He never
changes. He's always seen them that way. So they've always had, Mike,
a dwelling place. They've always had a dwelling
place. Where have they been? They were in Christ. When they
fell in Adam, where were they? in Christ. They never fell out
of Christ. Never, never. Somebody said,
I don't understand that. I don't understand it either.
But I believe it. If there was ever a time we were
not in Him and God never changes, you consider that one for a second.
If there was ever a time we were not in Him and God who never
changes had to look at us in a way when we were not in Him,
no. I don't ever want to think about
not being in Him. I love the thought of always
being in Him. That just comforts my heart.
That's the only place I've ever had or ever know of or can consider
any safety. But they've always had a dwelling
place. They've always been in Him. God's
everlasting covenant of grace, but He wasn't our resting place,
our resting place. What does that mean, resting
place? I looked this one up too. It means our couch or our place
of reclining. That just sounds so comforting,
so restful, you know. Man, I tell you what, I go home
on Sunday afternoon, go home, eat dinner, and you know the
first thing I want to do? I'm going to go get in that easy
chair, and I'm going to kick that recliner up, and I'm going
to lay there, and I'm going to turn on the TV, and I'm going
to turn it way down low so all I can hear is, I don't want to
listen to what it's saying, I just want to hear some noise. And
the next thing I know, I'm out. And I've got to play, and I rest.
I just relax. I recline. That's what it means.
I rest our couch. or place of reclining. And God's people who always have
had a dwelling place in regenerating grace, now they rest in it. Before
He called us out of darkness, there was not a knowledge, an
understanding of our resting place. We didn't know Him, we
didn't behold Him by faith, but when the Lord is pleased to call
us out of darkness. That's when we rested from our
works and our will to produce righteousness before God. We
were now knowledgeable of being found in God's eternal grace. But before we foolishly walked
in darkness in our depraved and carnal heart, but when He came
to us and called us out of darkness and removed that heart of stone
and sin didn't have dominion over us anymore, that which we
formerly rested in, we just considered it Paul said in Philippians 3,
he said, what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for
Christ. I don't rest in those anymore.
Before we were called out of darkness, I can tell you exactly
what I rested in. In my decision. In my will. In my choice. That's what I rested
in. I could remember. I could remember
the day. But not anymore. Now, my resting place. is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. We rest from our labors thinking
that we can establish righteousness and peace with God by the works
of the Lord. Now He's made us to spiritually
lie down in the green pastures of His blessing and His promises
to not leave us and He's not going to forsake us. So I can
rest there. When I see myself faltering and doubting and I
think, oh, but for the grace of God, where would I be? I realize now when the Lord said
it's finished, it's finished. Now I can rest in this. It's
finished. What was needed? Whatever God
demanded. How much of it did Christ finish? All of it. All of it. It. It. Whatever it encompassed, it was
all done. And they rest from that burden. And now in Romans 8.1, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So, here's
a solemn warning. Back in Proverbs 24.15, Lay not wait, O wicked man, against
the dwelling of the righteous. Spoil not his resting place. I'm going to say this, I'll sum
this up in just a few minutes. I'm going to look at verse 16
for a few comments. But I want to say something about
this when it says, Lay not wait, O wicked. I want to bring this
hopefully to a head on what exactly are they doing. The Lord warned
against it. Don't lay and wait. Don't try
to ambush. Here's the warning, here's the
realization of what that is. Hold your place and turn to Matthew
25. Matthew 25, I wanna read verses
42 to 45. Matthew 25, on the day of judgment, God's
gonna separate the sheep from the goats. And he's gonna tell
the sheep that he was hungry and they fed him, He was thirsty. They gave him drink. He was a
stranger. They took him in naked. They
clothed him. He was sick. They visited him
in prison and came to him. And they'll say, Lord, when do
we do this? And he'll say, when you did it
to the least of one of these, my brethren, you did it to me. But
what he was talking about was this. He was talking about preaching
the gospel to them. He was talking to them about
whenever I was hungry, You gave me in the preaching
of the gospel the proclamation of the bread of heaven. That's
what you did. I was hungry, spiritually hungry. I was thirsty and you
gave me to drink spiritually by preaching of the living water,
the fountain of water of God. He said I was a stranger, I was
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and I was a stranger
in this world and you took me in proclaiming salvation by the
grace of God. I was naked, and you clothed
me. I didn't know I didn't have righteousness
before God, but you were the one that told me of the robe
of Christ's righteousness that covers God's people. I was sick
from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot. and you
visited me with the truth. I was in prison, bound in trespasses
and sins, and you came unto me. Lord, when did we do that? When
you preached the gospel to my people, you did it to me. Now
how does the wicked lay in wait against the righteous. God warns
them. How do they lay in wait to destroy
their dwelling place and their resting place? How do they do
that? How do they do that with stealth? They don't preach the
gospel to God's people. That's what they're doing. They're
laying in wait. Every place where you find where the gospel is
not being preached, you know what they're doing? They're laying
in wait, trying to destroy, disrupt, Try to put a hindrance toward
the dwelling and the resting place of God's people. The Lord
said, Matthew 25, verse 40, For I was hungry, and you gave me
no meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me
no drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me not in naked, and you clothed me not sick. In prison you visited
me not, and they shall answer and say, Lord, when saw we thee
hungered, or thirst, or stranger, naked, sick, prison, and did
not minister unto thee? Then He shall answer and say,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of these,
the least of these, you did it not to me. And they shall go
away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal. I'm telling you, every place,
right now, here it is, it's a Sunday morning. Every place right now
where the gospel of God's free grace is not being proclaimed,
it's not being set forth, where God is not getting all the honor,
the glory, and praise, and man is, they're laying in wait, in
stealth, and they're saying, God ain't gonna see that. He's
not gonna know. You think not? You think not. Lay in wait. Don't lay in wait against the
dwelling. Don't you lay in wait against
the eternal safety of God's people being put in Christ. Don't you
speak against that. And when you don't tell them
the truth, that's what you're doing. And you're not doing it to them,
you're doing it to me, he said. Don't you try to spoil their
resting place. Don't you try to spoil the truth.
that I finish the work for them and put away their guilt. And
when you deny and telling them that, that's what you're doing.
And then he says in verse 16, For a just man falleth seven
times, and riseth up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. A just man, one justified by
the grace of God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
he still possesses that old man. I read that just a moment ago
out of 36. David admitted that. And they
fall. They stumble. Often because of
the presence of sin. And they've grown in that fact. John said, if we say we have
no sin, we make God a liar. Somebody said, oh, I just wish
I wouldn't sin. I do too. I do too. Paul said, I see in
me, that is in my flesh. It dwells in no good thing. A
believer just perpetually walks around grieving over what he
sees in himself. But though they're often found
to stumble and fall into calamity, he calls upon the God of covenant
hope. And the Lord who doesn't forsake
him reminds him. Listen to Psalm 34, 19. Many
are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out
of them all. All of them. How many times have I doubted?
How many times have I... You know, you know. A believer
falls into temptation, but I tell you this, he'll never fall from
God's grace. God has promised him. Isaiah 54, 5, for the mountains
shall depart, the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. Isn't that good news? I deserve
it, I deserve it, I deserve it. All that God would promise Scripture
says that just man falleth seven times and riseth up again. Why? Because he's kept by the
power of God through faith, ready to be revealed in the last time.
But listen to this. But the wicked shall fall into
mischief. The righteous stumble, they're
lifted up, but those left to themselves are overthrown. because
all their hope is built upon the sand of their self-righteousness. They want it to be. They want
to be judged on their own merit. I know that's so because Matthew
7. Lord, we prophesied in your name. Lay that to my account. You know,
we cast out devils in your name. Be sure to put that on my account.
We've done many marvelous works in your name. Be sure to put
that on my account. And judge me on that merit right
there. And the Lord shall say, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Never knew
you in grace. They wanted to be judged on their
own will and merit upon their own works, and they shall be. Boy, aren't you glad that God's
people are not? We're judged on the merit of
Christ. We're judged according to His
righteousness. And the Lord shall say, well
done, thy good and faithful service. Enter into that which was prepared
for you from before the foundation of the world. The wicked, Proverbs 14, verse
2 says, is driven away in his wickedness. He's defeated, he's
thrust down, driven away from any hope in life by the just
and holy God because of his sin. But the righteous hath hope in
his death. He has hope. Oh, and that day,
and I'm sure, Because eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man that which the Lord
has prepared for those that love Him. But in that day, when we
see Him as He is, and we know Him, and we're like Him, I read those scriptures and I
think, Lord, as you say it is, it is. But as I understand it,
I don't understand. but all the comfort of knowing
that the Word of God is never going to fall away. As he says,
it is. That's the way it is. And for
that, I'm thankful. I pray God bless this to our
heart for His glory and our good.